Ligue 1 Review | Jonathan David rediscovers golden touch ahead of Aston Villa showdown

Jonathan David entered last summer on the back of his best-ever season as a professional footballer. The young striker had finally melded that early potential that had earned him a move away from Canada to Gent, into a statement of intent, as he scored twenty-four times in the league for Lille OSC. 

His parting gift for the French club was to secure them European football before he finally embraced a long-awaited move into the brighter lights that appeared to beckon him forward. His head had been turned, and Lille had made their peace with him leaving. Their separation was to be neat. He had delivered an astounding season, and they were to be richly rewarded. 

And as the rumours swirled of Liverpool, AC Milan, and Manchester United, nothing ever materialised for the Canadian forward. September approached and still, there was no movement. Clubs sniffed at the prospect but were turned back away by the €60 million release clause. 

The deadline soon passed and still David was at Lille. It was easy to say that nothing had changed for the player and the club, but something had changed. Their relationship was suddenly different. They had before the summer a player who had a point to prove, and a move on the horizon, they now had a player frustrated to be in a state of stasis. 

The start of the season was concerning. David kept his place in the team but gone was the goalscoring touch that had come to define his stay in France. In his first eighteen games across all competitions, David scored only four times for Lille. And by the start of November, his place in the lineup was gone. 

Manager Paulo Fonesca instead relied upon the services of Yusuf Yazıcı in vital games against AS Monaco, Slovan Bratislava, and Olympique de